Almost everyone underestimates. The kitchen alone usually eats more containers than people plan for, and the last 10% of a house — closets, the junk drawer, the garage shelf — is deceptively dense.
Here are the counts we actually see, based on real Madison-area moves.
By home size
These map directly to our packages, because they're built from how much people actually pack rather than a formula.
- Studio or small downtown apartment: about 20 totes
- 1-bedroom apartment or condo: about 30 totes
- 2-bedroom apartment or small home: about 40 totes
- 3-bedroom home: about 55 totes
- 4-bedroom home: about 75 totes
- 5-bedroom home, estate, or office: about 100 totes
What pushes the number up
- Books, records, and board games — dense, heavy, and they add up fast
- A well-stocked kitchen with real dishware
- Hobbies with gear: craft supplies, tools, camping, sports equipment
- Long tenure. Five years in one apartment produces noticeably more than two.
- A basement, attic, or garage in the mix
What brings it down
Furniture-heavy, stuff-light homes need fewer containers than you'd guess. So do people who declutter before packing rather than after — moving is the single best forcing function for getting rid of things you don't want to carry.
Hanging clothes are the other variable. Wardrobe totes let clothes go closet-to-closet without folding, which removes several regular totes from the count.
Better to have a few extra
Running short at 10 p.m. the night before a move is a bad place to be. Running two totes over is a non-event — they go back on the truck at pickup.
If you're between two packages, take the larger one. It costs less than an emergency store run and a fresh roll of tape.
Not sure which size to pick?
Tell us your place and we'll tell you what similar Madison moves actually used.
